As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to these users is an information handling system. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may vary with respect to the type of information handled; the methods for handling the information; the methods for processing, storing or communicating the information; the amount of information processed, stored, or communicated; and the speed and efficiency with which the information is processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include or comprise a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
An information handling system may include multiple transient loads, such as processors and memory, whose power requirements change during operation. A voltage regulator (“VR”) coupled to the transient loads may provide the power to the transient loads, increasing or decreasing the power output in response to load requirements. A system processor, for example, may operate at a particular voltage, but the power required by the system processor may fluctuate depending on the processing operations to be completed at a given time. When a power increase is required, the VR must increase the output current so that the system processor receives the additional power it requires, but the output voltage must remain substantially constant. Likewise, when a power decrease is required, the VR must decrease the output current so that the system processor receives less power, but the output voltage must still remain substantially constant.
In practice, there is a lag time between when the power required by the system processor drops and when the VR can decrease the output current accordingly. The excess current generated by the VR and unneeded by the system processor creates an overshoot voltage at the output of the VR. If the overshoot voltage is large enough, it can damage sensitive components in the transient load. Existing methods for dealing with the overshoot voltage include increasing the output capacitance of the VR to suppress the overshoot voltage, or “body braking” by using the body diode of a power metal-oxide-semiconductor-field-effect transistor (“MOSFET”) in the VR to dissipate the excess current. Both options are problematic, however, as large capacitors increase the cost and size of the VR and “body braking” generates additional power loss and excess heat.